Apparatus for forming drum jacks



y 31, 1962 K. I. SHEPPARD ETAL 3,047,217

APPARATUS FOR FORMING DRUM JACKS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 26, 1961 INVENTORS. KALIN l. SHEPPARD NEAL M. PIERCE i /g w Q M ATTORNEYS July 31, 1962 K. I. SHEPPARD ETAL 3,

APPARATUS FOR FORMING DRUM JACKS Filed Jan 26, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS KALIN l. SHEPPARD NEAL MY PIERCE *l ATTORNEYS July 1962 K. I. SHEPPARD ETAL 3,047,217

APPARATUS FOR FORMING DRUM JACKS Filed Jan. 26, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 m w mow gm m ut II IMW. v I- M+ a w mt N@ QM. NF I:: ON W o m 0v NQN 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS. KALIN l. SHEPPARD NEAL M. PIERCE ATTORNEYS gqflg d FIG 9 ww wyw H M ulllll In K. l. SHEPPARD ETAL APPARATUS FOR FORMING DRUM JACKS July 31, 1962 Filed Jan. 26, 1961 FIG 7 FIG 8 July 31, 1962 K. I. SHEPPARD ETAL 3,047,217

APPARATUS FOR FORMING DRUM JACKS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 26, 1961 s s m w u w T M R m w w w wm w l L A NA L E 4, ON on. m SNM \fl\ wm L y bi 02 n M 3 0/ N2 3% N8 2:

8N SN 8 mm Q8 EN i 6 om mom 3,047,217 APPARATUS FGR FOG DRUM JACKS Kalin I. Sheppard, 609 Baker Road, and Neal M. Pierce, 1315 Florida Ave, both of High Point, N.C. Filed Ian. 26, 1961, Ser. No. 85,152 21 Claims. (Cl. 234-48) This invention relates to apparatus for forming drum jacks, and more particularly to apparatus for automatically forming a series of drum jack blanks into drum jacks by striking or removing various teeth from drum jack blanks in accordance with a predetermined pattern.

The drum jacks with which the present invention is concerned are employed in the textile industry to control the operation of automatic machinery such as knitting machines, or the like. The drum jacks themselves are formed from elongate tflat metallic blanks having a row of uniformly spaced teeth projecting from one longitudinal edge of a blank. The blank is formed into a jack by removing or snapping from the blank selected ones of the teeth. The formed jacks are mounted on the periphery of a cylindrical canal jack drum in a fashion such that the teeth remaining upon the jacks project radially from the drum while those portions of the jack from which the teeth have been removed lie flush with the surface of the drum. The jacks are mounted on the drum at symmetrically located ax ally extending positions so that rotation of the drum advances the jacks in succession into operative engagement with elements of the knitting machine to control its operation in knitting in various patterns such as argyle patterns or the like.

In the past, it has been the custom in the textile industry to form the drum jacks from blanks manually, usually by the employment of plier-like tools with which the operator manually snaps the appropriate teeth from a blank in accordance with a pattern presented by a worksheet which the operator scans as he forms the blank. This method is obviously time consuming, tedious and somewhat prone to error when the number of teeth on a blank reach the order of twenty-five teeth.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide apparatus for automatically reproducing drum jacks in large quantities.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus in which teeth are removed from drum jack blanks by apparatus which is controlled by previously formed drum jacks.

Still another object of the invention is to provide apparatus which automatically feeds drum jack blanks in sequence to a work station from which teeth are removed from the successive blanks in accordance with a predetermined pattern.

Still another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for automatically reproducing and assembling in sequence drum jacks formed in accordance with the respective forms of a set of jacks mounted upon a drum jack drum.

The foregoing and other objects are achieved in an apparatus which employs a plurality of individual striker blades assembled into a pack wherein the blades are supported for concurrent movement about a main pivotal axis and for movement relative to each other radially of the axis. The blades are shifted radially of the axis between a radially extended position and a radially retracted position by individual actuating levers which in turn are positioned in accordance with the tooth formation of a drum jack to be reproduced. The levers and blades are so arranged that when the levers are engaged with a drum jack to be reproduced, those levers which are engaged with portions of the jack from which teeth 3,047,217 Patented July 31, 1362 lected location on the frame at which the blank is positioned with its teeth projecting from the supporting structure toward the blades, the respective teeth of the blank being disposed in alignment with the respective blades of the pack. The blank is so located that upon pivotal movement of the blades about their main axis, those blades in their extended position engage and strike from the blank the respective teeth aligned therewith, while those blades in the retracted position pass clear of the corresponding teeth on the blank. Thus, teeth are struck from the blank in accordance with the teeth removed from the particular drum jack in engagement with the various actuating levers.

The control-ling drum jacks are mounted in a drum of the same type in which the jacks are mounted when in their operative relationship in the knitting machine. The drum is advanced in step by step movement in synohronism with the pivotal movement of the striker blades and with the feeding of successive jack-s to the operative position in alignment with the striker blades. Movement of successive blanks into operative relationship with the blades advances the previous blank from the blade engaging position into a collecting magazine in which the blanks are stacked in order.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent by reference to thetollowing specification and to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of :a drum jack forming apparatus embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a left side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with certain parts broken away;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a drum jack blank employed in the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the drum jack feeding and forming structure employed in the apparatus of FIG. 1; s

FIG. 5 is a detailed cross-sectional view of the mechanism of FIG. 4 taken substantially on line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a detailed cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 5, taken substantially on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4 and showing the parts in a different position than in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a detailed cross-sectional view taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 5; 7

FIG. 8 is a detailed cross-sectional view taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a detailed cross-sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a detailed cross-sectional view taken on line 10 10 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 11-11 of FIG. 4, showing details of the drum jack blank feed- 111g structure;

FIG. 12 is a detailed cross-sectional view of the drum jack feeding structure taken on line 12-12 of FIG. 5;

The apparatus disclosed in the drawings is designed to form drum jacks from drum jack blanks 20 shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings. Blanks 20 are constructed from flat metallic sheet material and, in their unformed condition, have a uniformly spaced row of teeth 22 extending along one longitudinal side of the blank. Blanks 20 are formed into drum jacks by breaking off selected teeth 22 while leaving the others intact. In use, the formed jacks I are seated in axially extending slots cut into the periphery of a cylindrical drum (such as drum 86 of FIGS. and and maintained in the drum by the engagement of a retaining lip formed on the drum in a notch 24 at one end of the jack. The opposite ends of the jacks are retained in the drum by the engagement of a garter spring which encircles the drum and assembled jacks and is seated in a spring receiving notch 26. The depth of the slots in the drum is such that the drum surface is flush with the base of teeth 22, and thus, when the formed jacks I are seated in the drum, the teeth positions on the jack from which teeth 22 have been broken oif are flush with the surface of the drum, and the intact teeth project radially outwardly from the periphery of the drum. A predetermined pattern of projecting teeth on the cam drum is achieved by breaking selected teeth from a series of jack blanks in accordance with a preselected pattern.

The apparatus disclosed in the drawings is designed to automatically feed a series of jack blanks 20 in sequence from a magazine to a work station at which teeth are snapped from successive blanks 20 in accordance with the preselected pattern to produce a complete set of formed jacks, arranged in order, and ready for insertion into a cam drum. This operation is accomplished by a drum jack forming mechanism designated generally 28 which is fixedly mounted upon the table or anvil 30 of punch press assembly designated generally 32'which is employed to drive mechanism 28 in blank forming movement. Punch press assembly 32 shown in the drawings is a standard, commercially available punch press of well known construction, and thus will be described but briefly.

Punch press 32 is powered by an electrical motor 34 which is connected by a drive belt 36 to continuously drivea fiy wheel 38 in rotation. Fly wheel 38 is coupled by a suitable clutch mechanism, not shown, to drive the punch press ram 40 in a vertical reciprocatory stroke each time the clutch is engaged or actuated. The clutch is engaged or actuated by an actuating link 42 which, when drawn downwardly from the position shown in FIG. 51, actuates the clutch to cause ram 40 to be driven in a downward forward stroke and an upward return stroke to the FIG. 1 position. Actuating link 42 is pivotally coupled at its lower end to an actuating lever 44 pivotally mounted upon the punch press frame as at 46. Link 42 may be moved to the clutch actuating position either by manually depressing the left hand end of lever 44 as viewed in FIG. 1 or, alternatively, by the energization of an actuating solenoid 48 which, when actuated, elevates the right hand end of lever 44 as viewed in FIG. 1.

Details of the drum jack blank forming mechanism 28 are best shown in FIGS. 4-10, inclusive. Mechanism 28 includes a base plate 50 which is rigidly secured as by bolts, not shown, to table 30 of punch press assembly 32. A pair of spaced brackets 52 are fixedly secured on base plate 50 as by welding to provide a means for fixedly securing a pair of side plates 54 and 56 in parallel spaced relationship upon base plate 50. Side plates 54 and 56 are secured to the respective brackets 52 as by bolts 58. The ends of side plates 54 and 56 remote from the base plate are rigidly connected to each other by spacer bolt assemblies 60.

A main pivot shaft 62 is received at each end in aligned bores in side plates 54 and 56 and fixedly held in position within the bores as by set screws 64 (FIG. 4). Main pivot shaft '62 supports a plurality of like elongate striker blades 66 for both pivotal and limited longitudinal movement relative to side plates 54 and 56. As best seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, each blade 66 is formed with a longitudinally elongated central opening 68 through which main pivot shaft 62 is passed. Blades 66 are mounted upon shaft 62 in parallel side by side relationship, the side by side relationship of blades 66 corresponding to the side by side relationship of teeth 22 on the drum jack blanks. One blade 66 is provided for each tooth 22 and, in some cases, where an extra control position is used on the jack, one additional blade 66 is provided to correspond to that portion of the blank between garter spring retaining notch 26 and teeth 22.

Blades 66 are held in the desired side by side relationship by structure which includes a pair of yoke arms 70 pivotally supported at one end upon pivot shaft 62. As best seen in FIG. 4, a yoke arm 70 extends from shaft 62 on each side of the outermost blades 66 and, at their forward ends, arms 70 are interconnected by a yoke pin 72 which passes through longitudinally elongated openings 74 formed adjacent to the forward end of each of blades 66. Yoke pin 72 is fixedly secured in position as by nuts 76. Yoke pin 72 thus maintains all of blades 66 in longitudinal alignment with each other and maintains the individual blades against pivotal movement relative to each other about shaft 62.

To maintain a slight spacing between adjacent blades 66, spacing shims 78 are mounted upon yoke pin 72 between adjacent blades. Shims 78 are quite thin and do not appear in the plan view of FIG. 4.

Blades 66 are aligned between side plates 54 and 56 and maintained in the desired side by side relationship by pad assemblies 80 which are adjustably threaded into the respective side walls and slidably engage the outer sides of the outermost blade 66 near their forward and rearward ends to maintain the blades in what may best be termed a blade pack designated generally 82. Each blade 66 within blade pack 82 may be shifted longitudinally relative to the other blades within limits determined by the longitudinal dimensions of openings 68 and 74 so that selected ones of blades 66 may be located in an extended or active position at an extreme right hand limit of movement as viewed in FIGS. 4-6 or in a retracted or inactive position spaced to the left of the extended position as viewed in FIGS. 4-6.

Positioning of the respective blades 66 in their active or inactive position is controlled by a pattern cam designated generally 84 which is similar to the pattern cams with which the formed jack blanks are employed. Jack blanks 20 formed by mechanism 28 are identical in pattern with those jacks I mounted on drum 84 and hence the apparatus is aptly described as a drum jack reproducer.

As best seen in FIG. 10 pattern cam 84 includes a cylindrical body or drum 86 supported for rotation between side plates 54 and 56 upon a drum shaft 88. The

. peripheral surface of drum 86 is formed with a plurality of axially extending slots 90 which extend from one end of drum 86 to terminate at a radially projecting shoulder 92 at the other end of the drum. The open ends of slots 90 at the right hand end of drum 86 as viewed in FIG.

10 are closed by a ratchet wheel 94 secured to drum 86 as by bolts 96. Ratchet wheel 94 is formed with an axially projecting lip 98 which is adapted to be seated in the locating notch 24 in the drum jacks J to assist in maintaining the jacks in the respective slots 90. A garter spring 100 resiliently maintains the opposite ends of the jacks in position within the slots. As described above, the depth of slots 90 is such that only the teeth of jacks received within the slots project outwardly beyond the periphery of drum 86. As shown in FIG. 10, the jacks are formed in selected patterns with certain teeth of the respective jacks being removed while others remain intact.

The periphery of ratchet wheel 94 is formed with a continuous series of ratchet teeth 102 which are operativelyengaged by the tooth 104 of a drive pawl 106. Drive pawl 106 is pivotally supported as at 108 upon a pawl actuating lever 110 which is in turn pivotally supported from the upper spacer assembly 60. Pawl 106 is resiliently biased into engagement with ratchet Wheel 94 by a tension spring 112 secured at one end to upper spacer assembly 60. Actuating lever 11-1) is driven from punch press assembly 32 by structure to be described below to successively rotate cam drum 84 in step-by-step movement to successively advance the drum jacks .T on drum 86 into operative engagement with a series of actuating levers designated generally 114 to be described in greater detail below.

To prevent overrunning of cam drum 84 during the step by step rotative advancement, a brake assembly 116 is mounted in side plate 56 and includes a compression spring 118 which resiliently biases a brake pad 120 into engagement with the outer face of ratchet wheel 94. Spring 118 is compressed within a housing 122 by a screw 124 which may be adjustably positioned within the housing to regulate the compressive force exerted by spring 118 upon pad 120.

A plurality of actuating levers 114 are rotatably supported upon a shaft 126 supported at its opposite ends in side plates 54 and 56. One actuating lever 114 is provided for each tooth position upon the jack and is coupled at its upper end to a corresponding striker blade 66.

The coupling between the individual levers 114 and their associated blades 66 is best shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. Each striker blade 66 is formed with a recess 128 which extends upwardly from the lower edge of the blade and partially transversely through the blade. The upper end of actuating lever 114 is formed with a finger portion 130 which projects into recess 128. A slight clearance is provided within the recess to accommodate for pivotal movement for striker blade 66 about its pivot shaft 62. As is apparent from FIG. 8, pivotal movement of actuating lever 114 about its shaft 126 moves finger portion 130 into engagement with either the front or rear wall of recess 128 to thus shift the associated blade 66 radially of shaft 62. As best seen in FIG. 9, the thickness of actuating lever 114 is slightly greater than the depth of recess 128 and thus a portion of lever 114 projects outwardly beyond the side of the associated blade 66. This projecting portion serves to space the rearward ends of blades 66 from each other in the same fashion that spacing shims '78 space the forward portions of the blades from each other.

Each actuating iever 114 is also formed with a projecting spur or cam follower 132 which is urged against the periphery of cam drum 84 as by tension spring 134. In view of the close relationship of adjacent actuating levers 114 (see FIG. 7) the coupling between springs 134 and their associated actuating levers 114 may take either the form of a projecting lug 136 (FIG. or a direct cou. pling as at 1328. Those levers formed with lugs 136 are cut away as at 1411 to provide clearance for the spring coupled to the next actuating lever. Alternate actuating levers 114 along shaft 126 are formed with lugs 136. The opposite ends of all springs 134 are secured to a rod 142 mounted between supporting gears 144 on the respective side plates 54 and 56.

As best seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, actuating levers 114 are positioned in either one of two alternate positions. When follower 132 is engaged with a projecting tooth on cam drum 84, the associated lever 114 is moved in counterclockwise pivotal movement about shaft 126 until its finger portion 136 is at the left hand limit of movement as viewed in FIGS. 5 and 6. If cam follower 132 does not engage a tooth on drum 84, it is moved by its associated spring 134 to a clockwise limit of pivotal movement about shaft 126, thus locating its finger portion 130 in the right hand position of P168. 5 and 6. When finger portion 136 is in the right hand position as viewed in FIGS. 5 and 6, its associated striker blade 66 is moved to the forwardly projecting or active position; when the termined by the engagement between the forward edge relative to base plate 50.

of the lever and an abutment rod 146 which is eccentrical- 1y mounted upon a shaft 148 journaled for rotation in side walls 54 and 56. Referring now particularly to FIGS. 2 and 4, shaft 148 projects outwardly beyond side wall 56 and a crank arm 150 is clamped tothe outer end of shaft 148. A tension spring 152 connected between the distalend of crank 150 and a suitable location upon the frame of punch press 132 resiliently biases crank 150 upwardly into engagement with an eccentric 154 which is clamped in a desired position of rotative adjustment about the axis of clamping screw 156- threaded into side wall 56. The rotative adjustment of eccentric 154 thus determines the rotative position of sha t 148 and hence establishes the normal limit of movement of actuating levers 114 in a clockwise direction about shaft 126 as viewed in FIG. 5. This in turn determine the extended or active position of the various striker blades 66.

The retracted position of the blades is determined by the difference in the pivotal position of actuating levers 114 about the'axis of shaft 126 when the levers are engaged with a tooth on cam drum 48 Occasionally, it is desirable to fully retract all of the actuating blades to the left as viewed in FIG. 5 so as to clear the machine in the case of a jam, and this may be-accomplished by manually depressing crank 150 from the FIG. 2 position to rotate shaft 148 until the high portion of eccentric compartment 146 engages the actuating levers. This particular situation is shown in FIG, 8 wherein it will be noted that all striker blades 66 are aligned with each other and withdrawn all clear of vertical alignment with the teeth of blank 20; It will also be noted that in this position of eccentric 146, all cam followers 132 are retracted clear of cam drum 84.

Drum jack blanks 20 are fed into operative relationship with striker blades 66 by structure shown most clearly in FIGS. 4, 5 and 11-14 inclusive. Referring first to FIG. 5, the feeding structure'includes a support plate 160 which is rigidly clamped to base plate 50 in adjusted positions by means of clamping screws 162 which pass through elongate holes 164 in plate 160. A block 166 fixed to base plate 56 as by bolts 168 (FIG. 4), supports a plurality of adjusting screws 170 which engage a side of plate 160 and are employed to accurately locate plate 160 upon base plate 50. A support block 172 is mounted upon plate 160 and is formed with an inclined notch 174 which supports a track block 176 in an inclined position Mounting bolts 178 pass through aligned bores in track block 176 and support block 172 and are threaded into plate 160 to rigidly clamp the support block and track block to plate 166. A slot 189 is cut into track block 176 to slidably receive jack blanks 20 and support the blanks in operative relationship to blade pack 82 with the teeth 22 of the blanks projecting from track block 176,

Referring now to FIG. 12, slot 180 terminates approximately midway of the block at an inclined recessed surface 182 which is offset inwardly of the block from the inner side of track 180. Surface 182 is inclined to lie in a plane extending normal to the general plane of a blank supported in slot 180 and serves as a mounting surface through which a back plate 184 of a jack blank supply magazine 185 is fixedly secured as by bolts 186. The upper portion ofback plate 184 is formed with a recess indicated in broken lines at 186 in FIG. 11 to afford access to blanks supported within a magazine whose rear Wall is defined by backplate 84. Side members 188 extend along each vertical side of back plate .186 and a front plate 190 extends between side members 188, front plate 196 and side members 188 being commonly se- 7 cured to back plate 184 as by bolts 192. As best seen in FIG. 13, back plate 184, side members 188 and front plate 190 thus define a magazine in which drum jack blanks 20 may be stacked one on top of the other.

The bottom portion of blank supply magazine 185 is defined by an elongate member 196 having a U-shaped transverse cross section as best seen in FIG. 15. Member 196 is fixedly mounted upon block 176 as by bolts 198 which pass through the lower leg of member 196, the lower end of back plate 190, and are threaded into block 176. To provide clearance for side members 188 and front plate 190, the upper leg of member 196 is cut away as at 200 to provide clearance for the passage of drum jack blanks into the lower portion of the magazine. As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 15, the upper portion of supply magazine 185 may be bent somewhat backwardly to provide clearance for various members of the punch press.

The upper surface of the lower leg of U-shaped member 196 is supported in co-planar relationship with the bottom surface of slot 180, and thus a jack blank 20 supported upon surface 202 is in alignment with slot 180 and may be advanced into the slot by sliding the member from right to left as viewed in FIG. 13.

As best seen in FIG. 15, a slot 204 is cut into member 196 to define a continuation of surface 202 which extends the entire length of member 196, slot 204 slidably receiving one longitudinal edge of a pusher member 206 to guide the member in blank advancing movement. As best seen in FIG. 12, the blank engaging end of pusher member 202 is formed with a projecting finger 208 located in front of the teeth of a blank 20 to maintain the blank firmly seated against the inner wall of slot 180 upon movement of the blank into the slot. The thickness of finger 208 is equal to the depth of slot 204 and finger 208 joins the main body of pusher 206 at a blank driving shoulder 210. At the right hand end (FIG. 12) of member 206, a lug 212 is fixedly secured to pusher member 206 and a drive pin 214 is fixedly secured to lug 212 to project transversely through an elongate opening 216 cut in member 196. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, lug 212 is at the extreme right hand limit of movement within opening 216, at which time pusher member 206 is retracted to its right hand limit of movement. Upon movement of pin 214 and lug 212 to the left to locate pin 214 at the other or left hand end of opening 216, shoulder 210 on pusher member 206 is driven from the FIG. 12 position to the left to advance a blank 20 from the supply magazine into slot 180to the operative relationship of blade pack 82 corresponding to the position of the left blank 20 in FIG. 12.

Reeiprocation of pin 214 between the opposite ends of opening 216 may either be accomplished manually with the aid of a handle 217 or automatically by operation of a drive unit designated generally 218 and described in greater detail below.

Front and rear cover plates 220 and 222 are mounted upon the front and rear sides of member 196, rear cover plate 222 engaging the rearward edge of pusher member 206, as best shown in FIG. 14, to maintainmember 206 firmly seated within slot 204. Both front cover plate 220 and rear cover plate 222 are formed with elongate openings 224 and 226 respectively which are co-extensive with opening 216 in member 196.

As best seen in FIG. 11, front cover plate 220 is projected well beyond the right hand end of member 196 and enlarged somewhat as at 228 to serve as a mounting plate for a limit switch 230 fixedly mounted upon the rear surface of front cover plate 220. Plunger 232 of limit switch 230 is located to be depressed by a striker plate 234 carried on a rearwardly extending projection 236 integral with lug 212 and thus movable in accordance with the position of pusher member 206. A return spring 238 is coupled in tension between front cover plate 220 and lug 212 to resiliently bias pusher plate 206 to the right hand limit of movement shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. Switch 230 is employed to coordinate actuation of punch press 32 with the feeding of blanks into operative relationship with blade pack 82.

Automatic reciprocation of pusher member 206 may be accomplished by means of drive mechanism 218 which includes a shaft 240 driven in continuous rotation by a motor 242 fixedly mounted upon the machine frame (FIG. 2). Rotation of shaft 240 drives a connecting link 244 pivotally connected at one end to a disk 246 as by a connecting pin 248. Pin 248 is eccentrically located with respect to shaft 240, while connecting link 244 is pivotally connected at its opposite end to pin 214 as at 250. It is believed apparent that continuous rotation of shaft 240 will thus drive pin 214 and hence pusher plate 206 in longitudinal reciprocation within slot 204.

Since the lowermost blank 20 of drum jack blank supply magazine 185 is located in co-planar relationship with the blank 20 in operative relationship with blade pack 82 (left hand blank of FIG. 12) reciprocatory movement of pusher 206 to drive the lowermost blank from the supply magazine into slot causes the blank being moved into slot 180 to push the previous blank to the left as viewed in FIG. 12 to eject the jack from slot 180 into a blank receiving magazine designated generally 252. Thus, the feeding of the blank from blank supply magazine advances the last previously formed blank 20 from its operative relationship with blade pack 82 in slot 180 into storage magazine 252.

The lower wall of magazine 252 consist of a block 254 fixedly mounted upon block 176 with the upper surface 256 of block 254 being co-planar with the lower wall of slot 180. Referring particularly to FIG. 11, upper sur-' face 256 extends in co-planar relationship with the lower surface of slot 180 only for a short distance, at which time the upper surface is inclined downwardly as at 258 so that formed blanks 20 stored in magazine 252 are both longitudinally and transversely inclined from the horizontal. The inclination of surface 258 is such that the lowermost blank 20 supported upon surface 258 is inclined upwardly above surface 256 so that the vertical distance between the extreme right hand end of surface 256 as viewed in FIG. 11 and the lower surface of the lowermost blank in magazine 252 is greater than the thickness of a blank 20. Thus, when a blank 20 is moved from slot 180 into magazine 252, the blank entering the magazine passes beneath the lower surface of the lowermost blank supported in magazine 252 and thus the blanks supported in magazine 252 are stacked in the order of their formation with the first formed blank at the top of the stack.

Magazine 252 also includes a back plate 260, a fixed side plate 262, a transparent front plate 264 and a movable side plate 266 pivotally supported at its upper end upon rear wall 260 as by pivot pin 268. A spring 270 resiliently biases side plate 266 against the adjacent side of rear wall 260 and a notch 272 (FIG. 12) along the rear surface of plate 268 normally retains side plate 268 in a position where side plate 268 defines the left hand side of magazine 252.

A weight member 274 is slidably received within magazine 252 to urge the stack of blanks in the magazine in compacted relationship. The lower surface of weight 274 is inclined as at 276 into parallelism with inclined surface 258 of block 254. As best viewed in FIG. 11, the right-hand side of weight 274 is recessed as at 278 to provide clearance for movement of an ejecting plate 280 transversely into the interior of magazine 252. Plate 280 is supported on a push rod 282 slidably received Within a bore extending horizontally through fixed side member 262. Plate 280 is normally biased to the position of FIG. 11 by a compression spring 284. To remove formed blanks from magazine 252, movable side plate 266 is pivoted by swinging its lower end toward the observer from the FIG. 11 position upwardly about pivot pin 268 toward a horizontal position. This action opens the left-hand side of magazine 252 as viewed in FIG. 11 and by manually pushing rod 282 to the left as viewed in FIG. 1'1, the lefthand ends of the jacks in magazine 252 are moved clear of the left-hand edge of front and rear plates 264 and 260 so that they may be manually grasped to remove them from magazine 252.

Actuation of punch press assembly 32, and hence drum jack forming mechanism 28 is normally controlled by the operation of the feeding mechanism described above.

Operation of the feeding mechanism and punch press is inter-related electrically by limit switch 230 which is electrically connected with the coil of solenoid 48 in series across an electrical supply line in the manner best shown in FIG. 16. Switch 230 is normally open, but is closed by striker plate 234 when pusher plate 206 approaches its extreme right-hand limit of movement, and, when switch 230 is closed, solenoid 48 is energized to elevate the righthand end of actuating lever 44, thus driving actuating link 42 downwardly to engage the clutch of punch press 32. When the clutch of the punch press is engaged, ram 40 is driven in a vertical reciprocating stroke from the rest position of FIGS. 1 and 5 to the lower position of FIG. 6 and then returned to the rest position. As is apparent from a comparison of FIGS. 5 and 6-, the downward stroke of the punch press ram drives blade pack 82 from the normal substantially horizontal position of FIG. 5, to cause the right-hand or forward ends of the individual blades 64 to pass downwardly to a position wherein the lower ends of blades are located below the projecting teeth of a blank supported in slot 180. Upon return of ram to its rest position, blade pack 82 is pivoted upwardly above pivot 62 by a return spring mechanism which includes a rod 286 which extends horizontally across the rearward ends of blades 66 and is resiliently biased downwardly and forwardly by tension springs 288 coupled to the opposite ends of rod 286 and to the respective side plates '54 and 56. Rod 286 is retained against forward movement by posts 290 fixed in each of the respective side plates.

The return movement of ram 40 of punch press on the lower position of FIG. 6 to its normal rest position of FIG. 5 is employed to drive cam drum 84 forwardly one step to position a new drum jack on the drum surface in engagement with the actuating levers 114. This .action is performed by a lever 292 pivoted on the punch press frame at 294 and pivotally connected at its forward end to ram 40 as by a pivot pin 226. Lever'292 projects rearwardly beyond pivot 294, and, at its rearward end, a bracket member 293 is clamped at longitudinally adjusted positions along lever 292 by a clamping bolt assembly 300 which passes through an elongate opening 302 in lever 292. At the lower end of bracket 298, a bolt 304 is threadably received by bracket 293 and is inclined to the vertical at an angle such that its head is generally parallel to the upper surface of lever 110. A spring 306 connected between lever 110 and lever 292 resiliently urges lever 110 upwardly into engagement with the head of bolt 304.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 5, when punch press ram 40 is driven downwardly, the rearward or left hand end of lever 292 is pivoted upwardly,,and spring 306 urges lever 110 to move upwardly with lever 292. Upward movement of lever 110 about the axis of spacer assembly 60 carries pawl 106- upwardly and to the left as viewed in FIG. 5, thus drawing pawl tooth 104- in a counterclockwise direction along a periphery of ratchet wheel 94. This movement is such that when punch press ram 40 reaches its lower position, pawl 106- has moved a distance SUffiCiCTll'. to drop pawl tooth 104 behind the next succeeding ratchet tooth. Return movement of punch press ram 40 upwardly to the rest position of FIGS. 1 and 2 drives the left-hand end of lever 92 downwardly and bolt 304 transmits this downward movement to lever 110, thus driving pawl 106 downwardly and to the right as viewed in FIG. 5 to advance cam drum 84 one step to As a first step in preparing the machine for operation, a pattern cam 84 is assembled with a set of drum jacks I located on the drum in a fashion such that the teeth remaining upon the jacks are arranged in the desired pattern, for exampie, the diamond patterns indicated at D4 and D-2 in FIG. 4. A supply of jack blanks 20 is then stacked in drum jack blank supply magazine 185 with the teeth 22 of the blanks pointing toward front plate 190 and garter spring retaining notch 26 of all of the blanks being located at that side of the supply magazine adjacent slot 180.

At this time, pusher plate 206 will be in the retracted position shown in FIG. 12 to which it is normally urged by spring 238. The lowermost blank 20 in the supply magazine thus rests upon surface 202 of member 196 and is in position to be driven by pusher member 206 into slot upon the first forward stroke of pusher member 206.

Punch press motor 34 is then energized by closing switch S4 (FIG. 16) and, while motor 34 is coming up to speed, the lowermost jack blank 20 is advanced from magazine 185 into slot by manually shifting pusher plate 206 to the left as viewed in FIG. 12 by grasping handle 217 and moving the handle to the left as viewed in FIG. 12 to move pin 214 to the extreme left-hand end of opening 216 in member 196.

When pusher 206 has been manually shifted to the extreme left-hand limit of movement as viewed in FIG. 12, a blank 20 is located in operative relationship to striker plate pack 32 and is in the position assumed by the lefthand blank of FIG. 12. At this time, the operator closes switch S-2 to energize pusher plate drive motor 242 and releases handle 217. Pusher plate 206 moves toward the right as viewed in FIG. 12 toward its extreme righthand limit of movement and, at approximately the time when the tip of finger 208 passes into slot 204, striker plate 234 at the extreme right-hand end of lug 212 engages plunger 232 of switch 230 to close the switch contacts. The closing of the contacts of switch 230' (FIG. 16) energizes solenoid 48 which, through lever 44 and actuating link 42 (FIG. 1) actuates the clutch of the punch press to drive the punch ram downwardly from the rest position of FIGS. 1 and 5.

As the punch press is triggered by the energization of solenoid 48, striker blades 66 within blade pack 82 are longitudinally located with some of the blades disposed in the extended positionthe extreme right-hand position of FIG. 4while others of the blades are located in their retracted position. The positioning of the striker blades is determined by the pattern of teeth on the particular I drum jack J on drum as which is engaged with actuating levers 114 at this particular time. As previously de scribed above, those striker blades 66 whose associated actuating levers are in contact with a portion of jack J on pattern cam 84 from which the tooth has been broken off will be in the extended or right-hand position of FIG. 4, while those striker blades 66 whose actuating levers 114 are engaged with a tooth on the drum jack will be located in the left-hand position of FIG. 4.

Those striker blades 66 which are in the extended 0 right-hand position of FIG. 4 are located in vertical alignment with the projecting teeth of a blank 20 positioned in slot 180. The downward stroke of the punch press ram triggered by the energization of solenoid 48 shifts the ram from the position of FIG. 5 to the position of FIG. 6, thus driving blade pack 82 as a unit in clockwise pivotal movement about the axis of main pivot shaft 62. Each blade moves in edgewise pivotal movement in a general plane which is normal to the general plane of the blank in slot 180, each blade moving in its general plane in edgewise alignment with a tooth on the blank. During thisdownward movement, the lower edges of the zap 17,217

1 1 extended striker blades 66 strike the teeth of the blank 29 in slot 180 and snap the teeth from the main body of the blank. Those striker blades 66 which are in the retracted position swing downwardly clear of the corresponding teeth of the blank, and hence teeth are snapped rom the blank 20 in slot 133 in a pattern which duplicates the pattern of teeth which have been removed from the jack I in engagement with actuating levers 114 during the particular stroke of ram 46.

After the ram reaches the FIG. 6 position, it then returns upwardlyto the normal rest position of FIG. 5, and, as ram 40 moves upwardly, springs 288 draw rod 286 downwardly to resiliently return blade pack 82 to the FIG. position.

As described above, the return movement of punch press ram 40 to its rest position actuates pawl 106 to drive pattern cam 84 in a clockwise direction as viewed -in FIG. 5 to shift the next succeeding drum jack 1 into engagement with the various cam followers 132 of actuating levers 114. From FIG. 5, it will be noted that the rest position of punch press ram 40 is spaced upwardly above the normal rest position of striker blade 66, and the advancing step of pattern cam 34 takes place during movement of the punch press ram upwardly beyond the rest position of striker blades 66. Thus, at the time pattern cam 84 is advanced one step, striker blades 66 are in their original rest position, clear above the drum jack blank in slot 180. Thus, the return movement of blade pack 82 to its initial rest position occurs with the blades 66 disposed in the same respective extended or retracted positions which they assume during the forward stroke and, on the upward stroke, the extended blades pass freely through the blank spaces from which the blank teeth were snapped during the downward stroke of the blades. After blades 66 have passed above jack blank 20 in slot 180, pattern cam 84 is shifted one step and the various striker blades 66 are shifted longitudinally in accordance with the tooth pattern on the next successive jack J on pattern cam 84 which is advanced into engagement with the actuating levers 114.

Blank feeding drive motor 242 rotates continuously, and thus during the action described above, the pusher plate 206 is moving continuously. However, the vertical reciprocation of push press ram 46 is an extremely swift, hammerlike blow which occurs in a relatively short time in comparison to the rotative speed of motor 242. The action of the punch press clutch is basically a triggering type action and thus the cycle of energizing solenoid 48 to actuate the punch press clutch and the subsequent vertical reciprocation of punch press ram takes place while pin 214, and hence pusher plate 206, are at or extremely close to the right-hand limit of movement shown in FIG. 12. The actuation of punch press 32 occurs during that period of the cycle of reciprocation of pusher plate 206 between the time when shoulder 210 on member 206 passes to the right to a position clear of the right-hand edge of the right-hand blank 20 in FIG. 12 during its return stroke to its right-hand limit of movement and the time at which shoulder 210 moves into engagement with the right-hand end of the righthand blank 20 of FIG. 12 on its next subsequent forward stroke. Thus, by the time the punch press ram is returned to its rest position, the contacts of switch 230 are opened since striker plate 234 has moved to the left as viewed in FIG. 12 out of engagement with the plunger 232 and pusher plate 206 is, at this time, brought into engagement with the lowermost blank in the supply magazine.

Continued leftward movement of pusher plate 206 pushes the right-hand blank 26 of FIG. 12 to the left as viewed in FIG. 12 and, as the right-handblank 20 moves into slot 130, it ejects the left-hand blank 20 from the slot by pushing it to the left onto surface 256 of storage magazine 252. Pusher plate 206 continues to stroke to the left until the right-hand blank of FIG. 12

Cir

is driven to the position assumed by the left-hand blank 20 of FIG. 12. At this time, blank 20 from which teeth were snapped during the previous reciprocation of the punch press is located in magazine 252 and a fresh blank 20 is positioned in slot to be formed in accordance with the particular jack J on drum 34 which is now in engagement with actuating levers 114. With the new blank in position in slot 180, continued rotation of motor 242 retracts pusher plate 206 to the right as viewed in FIG. 12 and, as the pusher plate approaches its righthand limit of movement, striker plate 234 engages plunger 232 of switch 230 to again close the switch contacts, energize solenoid 48 and actuate the punch press to repeat the foregoing cycle of movement described above.

As each blank is formed and subsequently advanced into storage magazine 252, the inclined surface 258 of magazine 252 permits the last formed blank to move into the magazine beneath the previously formed blanks, and thus the stack of blanks retained in magazine 252 are maintained in order.

While we have described one embodiment of our in vention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosed embodiment may be modified. Therefore, the foregoing description is to be considered as exemplary rather than limiting and the true scope of our invention is that defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for forming drum jacks from flat metallic blanks each having a row of uniformly spaced teeth projecting from one edge thereof, said apparatus cornprising a frame, locating means on said frame for sup porting a blank at a selected location on said frame with the teeth of said blank projecting from said locating means, a plurality of like flat striker blades supported upon said frame for movement relative to said locating means in respective edgewise alignment With the teeth of a blank supported at said selected location, means resiliently biasing said blades to a rest position wherein said blades are located at one side of a blank supported at said selected location, drive means actuable to drive said blades concurrently from said rest position to an actutaed position located at the opposite side of a blank at said selected location, and control means operable when said blades are in said rest position to shift said blades toward or away from said locating means to locate selected ones of said blades in extended position adjacent said locating means and to locate the remaining ones of said blades in retracted position withdrawn from said locating means, the extended and retracted positions of said blades being respectively spaced from said locating means so that those blades in said extended positions engage and strike from a blank at said selected location the respective teeth of said blank aligned therewith while those blades in said retracted position pass clear of the respective teeth aligned therewith during movement of said blades from said rest position to said actuated position.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising blank supply means for supporting a supply of blanks adjacent said locating means, feeding means repetitively operable to advance blanks in intermittent succession from said supply means to said selected location, each blank being operable during movement into said selected location to eject the previous blank therefrom, and means operable by said feeding means between successive blank advancing movement thereof for actuating said drive means.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising a blank supply magazine for supporting a generally vertical stack of blanks adjacent said locating means at one side of said selected location, a reciprocating pusher member mounted upon said frame for movement in forward and return strokes between said magazine and said selected location and operable upon a forward stroke to advance the lowermost blank from said stack in said 13 magazine to said selected location, each blank being operable during movement into said selected location to eject the previous blank therefrom, and means for actuating said drive means in response to movement of said pusher member in its return stroke.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising blank supply means for supporting a supply of blanks adjacent to said locating means, cyclically operable feeding means for advancing blanks in cyclic succession from said supply means to said selected location, each blank being operable during movement into said selected location to eject the previous blank therefrom, means operable by said feeding meansbetween successive blanks advancing movements thereof for actuating said drive means to drive said blades from their rest position to their actuated position, and means responsive to the re turn of said blades to said rest position for operating said control means to shift selected blades to or from said extended position.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said control means comprises a rotatable cam drum, said means responsive to the return of said blades to said rest position comprising ratchet means operable to rotatively advance said cam drum in step by step movement.

6. Apparatus for forming drum jacks from elongate fiat metallic blanks each having a row of uniformly spaced teeth projecting from one longitudinal edge thereof, said apparatus comprising a frame, locating means for supporting a blank at a selected location on said frame with the teeth of said blank projecting from one side of said locating means, a plurality of like flat striker blades mounted on said frame at said one side of said locating means for movement in respective parallel general planes normal to the one longitudinal edge of a blank at said selected location with said blades in respective edgewise alignment with the teeth of said blank, control means for shifting said blades relative to each other toward and away from said locating means to selectively locate the respective blades in an extended position adjacent said locating means or in a retracted position withdrawn from said locating means, and means for moving said blades concurrently in their respective general planes in a forward and return stroke extending past said selected location along respective paths wherein those blades in their extended positions engage and strike from a blank at said selected location the respective teeth of said blank aligned therewith while those blades in their retracted positions pass clear of the corresponding teeth of said blank.

7. Apparatus for forming drum jacks from elongate flat metallic blanks each having a row of uniformly spaced teeth projecting from one longitudinal edge thereof, said apparatus comprising a frame, locating means for supporting a blank at a selected location on said frame with the teeth of said blank projecting from one side of said locating means, feeding means on said frame operable to feed blanks in succession to said selected location, movement of each blank to said selected location ejecting the previous blank from said selected location, a plurality of flat striker blades mounted on said frame for movement in respective parallel general planes normal to the longitudinal edge of a blank at said selected location with said blades maintained in respective edgewise alignment with the teeth of said blank, control means actuable to shift said blades relative to each other toward and away from said locating means to selectively position said blades independently. of one another in an extended position adjacent said locating means or in a retracted position withdrawn from said locating means,

means operable independently of said control means for normally locating all of said blades in a rest position spaced from one side of a blank at said selected location, drive means actuable to drive said bla'des concurrently past said selected location to an actuated position along respective paths wherein those blades in their extended positions engage and strike from a blank at said selected l4 location the respective teeth of said blank aligned there with while those blades in their retracted positions pass clear of the corresponding teeth of said blank, means operable by said feeding means when a blank is at said selected location for actuating said drive means, and means responsive to the subsequent return movement of said blades to their rest position for actuating said control means to shift the blades between their respective extended and retracted positions in accordance with a predetermined pattern.

8. Apparatus for forming drum jacks from flat metallic blanks having a row of uniformly spaced teeth projecting from one side thereof, said apparatus comprising a pack of like flat striker blades disposed in a parallel side-by-side relationship corresponding to the spacing of the teeth on one of said blanks, means supporting said pack of blades for vertical edgewise movement from a normal rest position, locating means for locating a blank below and adjacent to one end of said pack when said pack is in said rest position with the teeth on said blank projecting from said locating means toward said one end of said pack in alignment with the respective blades in said pack, means for locating selected blades of said pack in a retracted position clear of vertical alignment with the teeth on said blank while locating the remaining blades in vertical alignment with the respective corresponding teeth on said blank, and means for driving said pack of blades downwardly from said rest position to cause said remaining blades to strike the respective teeth aligned therewith from said blank while said selected blades pass freely between said supporting means and the respective teeth aligned therewith.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 8 :further comprising blank supply means for supporting a supply of blanks adjacent said locating means, feeding means repetitively operable to advance blanks in intermittent succession from said supply means to said selected location, each blank being operable during movement into said selected location to eject the previous blank therefrom, and means operable by said feeding means between succes sive blank advancing movement thereof for actuating said drive means.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 8 further comprising a blank supply magazine for supporting a generally vert-ical stack of blanks adjacent said locating means at one side of said selected location, a reciprocataing pusher member mounted upon said frame for movement in forward and return strokes between said magazine and said selected location and operable upon a forward stroke to advance the lowermost blank from said stack in said magazine to said selected location, each blank being operable during movement into said selected location to eject thev previous blank therefrom, and means for actuating said drive means in response to movement of said pusher member in its return stroke.

11. Apparatus as defined in claim 8 further comprising blank supply means for supporting a supply of blanks adjacent to said locating means, cyclically operable feeding means for advancing blanks in cyclic succession from said supply means to said selected location, each blank said control means to shift selected blades to or from i said extended position.

12. Apparatus as defined in claim 11 wherein said control means comprises a rotatable cam drum, said means responsive to the return of said blades to said rest position comprising ratchet means operable to rotatively' advance said cam drum in step-by-step movement.

13. Apparatus for forming drum jacks from elongate flat metallic blanks each having a row of uniformly spaced teeth projecting from one longitudinal edge thereof by removing selected ones of said teeth, said apparatus comprising a frame, locating means for supporting a blank at a selected location on said frame with the teeth of said blank projecting from one side of said locating means, support means on said frame spaced from said one side of said locating means defining a main axis of pivotal movement on said frame extending parallel to the longitudinal edge of a blank at said selected location, a plurality of like fiat striker blades mounted on said support means for concurrent edgewise pivotal movement about said main axis at axially spaced positions respectively aligned with the teeth of a blank at said selected location, means biasing said blades about said axis to a normal pivotal rest position spaced from one side of a blank at said selected location, drive means for driving said blades concurrently from said rest position past said selected location to an actuated position, and control means for shifting said blades upon said support means radially of said axis to locate selected ones of said blades in a radially extended position wherein said selected blades during movement from said rest position to said actuated position engage and strike from a blank at said selected location the respective teeth of said blank aligned therewith and to locate the remaining blades in a radially retracted position wherein said remaining blades pass clear of said blank during movement between said rest position and said actuated position.

14. Apparatus as defined in claim 13 further comprising blank supply means for supporting a supply of blanks adjacent said locating means, feeding means repetitively operable to advance blanks in intermittent succession from said supply means to said selected location, each blank being operable during movement into said selected location to eject the previous blank therefrom, and means operable by said feeding means between successive blank advancing movement thereof for actuating said drive means.

15. Apparatus as defined in claim 13 further comprising a blank supply magazine for supporting a generally vertical stack of blanks adjacent said locating means at one side of said selected location, a reciprocating pusher member mounted upon said frame for movement in forward and return strokes between said magazine and said selected location and operable upon a forward stroke to advance the lowermost blank from said stack in said magazine to said selected location, each blank being operable during movement into said selected location to eject the previous blank therefrom, and means for actuating said drive means in response to movement of said pusher member in its return stroke.

16. Apparatus as defined in claim 13 further comprising blank supply means for supporting a supply of blanks adjacent to said locating means, cyclically operable feeding means for advancing blanks in cyclic succession from said supply means to said selected location, each blank being operable during movement into said selected location to eject the previous blank therefrom, means operable by said feeding means between successive blanks advancing movements thereof for actuating said drive means to drive said blades from their rest position to their actuated position, and means responsive to the return of said blades to said rest position for operating said control means to shift selected blades to or from said extended position.

17. Apparatus as defined in claim 13 wherein said control means comprises a drum jack consisting of a blank from which selected ones of said teeth have been removed, means for supporting said jack at an operative position on said frame, and means engageable with said drum jack at said operatvie position for positioning said blades in their extended or retracted position in respective correspondence to the absence or presence of teeth upon said jack whereby movement of said blades from their rest position to their actuated position strikes from 16 a blank at said selected location the respective teeth of said blank corresponding to those teeth removed from said jack.

18. Apparatus as defined in claim 17 wherein said control means further comprises a rotatable drum having a plurality of drum jacks mounted thereon in symmetrically disposed axially extending positions with the teeth of said jacks projecting radially from the peripheral surface of said drum, said means responsive to the return of said blades to said rest position comprising ratchet means operable to rotatively advance said drum in stepby-step movement to successively advance said jacks to said operative position.

19. Apparatus for forming drum jacks from flat metallic blanks having a row of uniformly spaced teeth projecting from one side thereof, said apparatus comprising a pack of like flat striker blades disposed in a parallel side-by-side relationship corresponding to the spacing of said teeth on said blank, means supporting said pack of blades for vertical edgewise movement from a normal rest position, locating means for locating a blank adjacent one end of said pack with the teeth on said blank projecting from said locating means beneath said one end of said pack into vertical alignment with the respective blades of said pack, control means actuable to Withdraw selected blades of said pack away from said locating means to a retracted position clear of vertical alignment with the teeth on said blank while maintaining the remaining blades in vertical alignment with the respective corresponding teeth, means for driving said pack of blades in a downward stroke from said rest position to cause said remaining blades to strike the respective teeth vertically aligned therewith from said blank, means operable at the completion of each downward stroke of said pack of blades for returning said pack of blades to said rest position, and feeding means operable between successive downward strokes of said pack of blades for ejecting a blank having teeth struck therefrom from said locating means and replacing the ejected blank with a fresh blank.

20. A drum jack reproducer for forming drum jacks from flat metallic blanks having an elongated body portion and a longitudinally extending row of uniformly spaced teeth projecting transversely from one longitudinal edge of said body portion, said reproducer comprising a frame, support means on said frame defining a stationary pivotal axis, locating means on said frame for locating a blank at a selected location on said frame with the longitudinal extent of said blank disposed in spaced parallel relationship with said axis and the teeth of the blank projecting from said locating means toward said axis, a plurality of blades mounted upon said support means for concurrent pivotal movement about said axis in respective general planes aligned with the teeth of a body portion of said blank at said selected location, intermittently operable means for driving said blades from a normal rest position in pivotal movement of said axis in a forward and a return stroke past said selected location, control means operable to independently position said blades radially of said axis to selectively cause one end of a blade to pass freely between said axis and the aligned tooth of a blank upon said locating means or to engage the aligned tooth to snap said tooth from said body portion during pivotal movement of the blade in said forward stroke, blank feeding means operable between each successive forward stroke of said blades to eject a blank from said locating means and to feed a fresh blank to said locating means, and cam means for operating said positioning means between successive forward strokes of said blades to cause said blades to snap selected teeth from successive blanks in accordance with a predetermined pattern.

21. Apparatus as defined in claim 20 wherein said control means comprises a plurality of blade shifting members mounted upon said frame for independent movement relative to each other in a uniformly spaced side 17 by side relation corresponding to the spacing of teeth on a blank, means biasing said members to a first rest position wherein said members are transversely aligned with each other, means coupling each of said members to a corresponding one of said blades to locate the blade in its extended position when said shifting member is in said first position and to shift said blade from its extended position to its retracted position when said shifting member is moved from its first position to a second position, a drum jack consisting of a blank having selected teeth removed therefrom flush with said one longitudinal edge of said blank, means supporting said drum jack on said frame with the teeth on said jack and the positions on said jack from which said selected teeth have been removed being respectively aligned with said blade shifting members, and means for advancing said jack into engagement corresponding shifting members from their respective first positions to their second positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,108,492 Eggart -Aug. 25, 1914 1,750,216 Ewald Mar. 11, 1930 2,233,662 Buster et al. Mar. 4, 1941 2,318,446 Wolters May 4, 1943 2,519,031 Drackman Aug. 15, 1950 2,630,863 Hooe Mar. 10, 1953 2,791,275 Hooe May 7, 1957 2,845,124 Kulhavy July 29, 1958 

